MARA SILVERS/Montana Free PressMontana Free Press.

A Montana audit found a two-year transition between contractors tasked with monitoring Montana medical providers with substance use disorders or mental illnesses may have allowed some of those professionals to practice without oversight. The audit said the turmoil also undermined the trust of the dozens of nurses, doctors, dentists and pharmacists who were being monitored. The labor department said there was no basis for the conclusion that more than two dozen participants were unaccounted for during the transition. However, labor department employees told auditors that when one provider lost its contract, it did not turn over all its records and documentation. Some participants say the current monitors aren’t responding to their concerns.